Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2019
Latest action · Mar 28, 2019 Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMar 28, 2019
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2019
This bill increases the amount of compensation provided to individuals exposed to radiation and expands eligibility requirements for compensation to include additional individuals.
Specifically, the bill extends the Radiation Exposure Compensation Trust Fund until 19 years after this bill's enactment. The trust fund compensates individuals who contract cancer or other diseases as a result of their exposure to radiation during nuclear testing undertaken by the United States during the Cold War.
The bill revises the requirements governing the compensation of individuals who were exposed to radiation, including by
- increasing the amount of compensation that an individual may receive;
- expanding the affected area to include Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and New Mexico;
- expanding eligibility requirements to include additional individuals, such as certain employees of uranium mines or mills; and
- extending until 19 years after this bill's enactment the statute of limitations for the filing of claims.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences must establish a grant program for institutions of higher education to study the epidemiological impacts of uranium mining and milling among non-occupationally exposed individuals.
The bill expands eligibility requirements for the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program with respect to chronic beryllium disease.
Cosponsors 10
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Mar 28, 2019 to Oct 26, 2020; 5 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-NJ | Cory A. Booker | Original | Mar 28, 2019 |
| R-ID | James E. Risch | Original | Mar 28, 2019 |
| D-NM | Martin Heinrich | Original | Mar 28, 2019 |
| D-CO | Michael F. Bennet | Original | Mar 28, 2019 |
| D-NM | Tom Udall | Original | Mar 28, 2019 |
| I-AZ | Kyrsten Sinema | Jul 16, 2019 | |
| D-NV | Jacky Rosen | Sep 12, 2019 | |
| D-MT | Jon Tester | Oct 21, 2019 | |
| R-AZ | Martha McSally | Jan 14, 2020 | |
| D-NH | Margaret Wood Hassan | Oct 26, 2020 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Judiciary Committee | Referred Mar 28, 2019 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Mar 28, 2019Introduced in Senate
- Mar 28, 2019Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Hrg. 116-94 | AMERICA'S NUCLEAR PAST: EXAMINING THE EFFECTS OF RADIATION IN INDIAN COUNTRY90 pages | Indian Affairs Committee | Oct 7, 2019 |
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 197 | Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2017 | Reintroduction of | Jun 27, 2018 |
| HR 3783 | Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2019 | Related bill | Aug 6, 2019 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to amend the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act to improve compensation for workers involved in uranium mining, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2019
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Labor and Employment.
- Administrative law and regulatory procedures
- Arizona
- Cancer
- Civil actions and liability
- Colorado
- Department of Justice
- Digestive and metabolic diseases
- Education programs funding
- Environmental health
- Government information and archives
- Government liability
- Government trust funds
- Guam
- Hazardous wastes and toxic substances
- Health care costs and insurance
- Higher education
- Idaho
- Labor and Employment
- Legal fees and court costs
- Medical research
- Military history
- Mining
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- North Dakota
- Nuclear weapons
- Oregon
- Personnel records
- Public contracts and procurement
- Radiation
- Research administration and funding
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Utah
- Washington State
- Worker safety and health
- Wyoming
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Mar 28, 2019Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
